Premier League Returns: Who Has Been The Best Player Of The Season So Far?

After what has felt like an eternity, the Premier League is finally back this weekend.

The first international break of the 2026/27 campaign lasted 19 days following changes to the FIFA calendar, but club football returns on Saturday with a cracking Matchweek 6 programme.

ALSO READ: Manchester City Found Guilty Of Serious Premier League Financial Rule Breaches.

Defending champions Arsenal get things underway against unbeaten Leeds United at the Emirates, Manchester United host Tottenham Hotspur later in the day, while Sunday’s headline act sees league leaders Manchester City travel to Anfield to face Liverpool.

Five games isn’t enough to draw any definitive conclusions about the season, but it has given us an early look at the players who could dominate the campaign.

Erling Haaland is scoring again. Alexander Isak is firing for Liverpool. João Pedro has made a flying start at Chelsea and Bukayo Saka remains Arsenal’s main man.

However, our pick for the best Premier League player of the season so far is Brighton veteran Pascal Gross.

Pascal Gross Rolls Back The Years

At 35, Gross isn’t supposed to be producing some of the best football of his Premier League career.

The German midfielder has been at the heart of Brighton’s outstanding start, recording three goals and three assists in five league appearances. His six direct goal involvements are tied with Chelsea’s Joao Pedro for the most in the Premier League.

The numbers beyond goals and assists make his case even stronger.

Gross has created 15 chances, more than any other player in the division, while only Morgan Gibbs-White and Granit Xhaka have created more big chances. He isn’t simply finishing Brighton moves; he’s helping make them happen.

His performances earned him the Premier League Player of the Month award for September, the first time he has won the prize in his career. He produced five goal involvements during the month alone, scoring twice and assisting three times.

More importantly, Gross individual brilliance is translating into results.

Brighton head into the weekend sitting third in the table, while their 16 goals are the most scored by any Premier League team through five matches.

Fabian Hurzeler’s side have also become one of the most aggressive pressing teams in the league. Gross has been the experienced conductor at the heart of it all.

Haaland Is Already Hunting Another Golden Boot

The most obvious challenger is Erling Haaland.

Manchester City’s goal machine sits alone at the top of the Premier League scoring charts with five goals in five appearances, having scored in four successive league matches.

The underlying numbers suggest it isn’t a fluke either.

Haaland has generated approximately 4.43 expected goals from 20 shots, while half of his 20 efforts have hit the target.

His goals have helped Manchester City make a perfect start to life under Enzo Maresca. City are the only Premier League side to have won all five matches, and their 13 goals are bettered only by Brighton.

If you’re asking who is most likely to be regarded as the league’s best player by May, Haaland would be difficult to bet against.

But based purely on the first five matches, Gross just edges him.

Joao Pedro Has Been Outstanding For Chelsea

Joao Pedro deserves to be in the conversation as well.

The Brazilian has three goals and three assists, putting him level with Gross on six goal involvements.

His problem isn’t his own performance. It’s Chelsea’s.

The Blues started brightly under Xabi Alonso but have since stumbled, and their matches have become wildly unpredictable. Chelsea have scored 10 goals but conceded 12, becoming only the 10th team in Premier League history to both score and concede double figures across their opening five matches.

If Alonso can stabilise Chelsea defensively while Joao Pedro maintains his attacking output, the Brazilian could quickly emerge as a genuine Player of the Season contender.

Isak Is Firing Under Iraola

Alexander Isak is another player who has hit the ground running.

The Liverpool striker has scored four goals in five appearances, leaving him just one behind Haaland in the Golden Boot race. His finishing has been particularly impressive, with those four goals coming from seven shots on target.

Isak’s goals have also mattered.

He scored to rescue a point against Nottingham Forest, struck twice against Ipswich and grabbed the winner against Bournemouth as Liverpool made an unbeaten start under Andoni Iraola.

And Sunday’s blockbuster against Manchester City offers him the perfect opportunity to strengthen his case.

It will feature the Premier League’s two leading scorers going directly against one another: Haaland’s five goals versus Isak’s four.

Saka Remains Arsenal’s Main Man

Bukayo Saka can’t be ignored either.

The England international has scored three times in five matches for the defending champions and continues to carry enormous attacking responsibility for Mikel Arteta’s side.

Arsenal won their opening four league matches before being stunned 3-0 by Brighton immediately before the international break.

That defeat leaves them chasing a perfect Manchester City side, making Saturday’s clash against unbeaten Leeds an important early test of the champions’ response.

Saka will inevitably be central to it.

Premier League Returns With A Bang

The international break has provided the first natural stopping point of the season.

Now things start getting serious.

Arsenal have an immediate opportunity to respond to their first defeat when they host unbeaten Leeds. Manchester United and Tottenham meet with both desperate for an upturn in fortunes, while Brighton travel to Sunderland looking to prove their remarkable opening five matches were no flash in the pan.

Then comes the main event.

Liverpool welcome perfect Manchester City to Anfield on Sunday, pitting Iraola’s unbeaten Reds against Maresca’s league leaders and Isak against Haaland.

Five games have given us our early contenders.

Starting this weekend, we’ll begin finding out which of them are capable of sustaining it.